Since October 7, 2001 our men and women in uniform have been at war fighting on our behalf. Though there have been draw downs and reductions in troop levels they have still been fighting, taking punishment and acting as emissaries with the honor one would expect of the best our nation has to offer. They have not complained nor asked for much if anything. They have been dutiful and unquestioning in their devotion to our nation.
Since October 7, 2001 our men and women in uniform have been at war fighting on our behalf. Though there have been draw downs and reductions in troop levels they have still been fighting, taking punishment and acting as emissaries with the honor one would expect of the best our nation has to offer. They have not complained nor asked for much if anything. They have been dutiful and unquestioning in their devotion to our nation.
Yet have we always given this same level of loyalty back to them? Have we always told them they are never taken for granted? Have we made sure we never used them for anything more than the purposes of trying to accomplish the goals of a mission? Since that October day in 2001 have we ever imposed unreasonable demands on them? If so how did we balance that out? Did we make sure that as soon as possible we brought them home?
Take Afghanistan for example. We have been there for a long time and our initial purpose was to go after the people responsible for 9/11. We were after public enemy number one the FBI's most wanted Osama Bin Laden, and initially President Bush said we wanted him dead or alive. That changed and less than a year later he, “declared Osama bin Laden all but vanquished yesterday, saying the al Qaeda leader -- dead or alive -- no longer poses a serious threat to America. 'We haven't heard from him in a long time,' Bush told reporters at the White House. 'I truly am not that concerned about him.'” (http://articles.sfgate.com/2002-03-14/news/17535761_1_nuclear-weapons-bi...)
Yet our troops and those of allied countries we convinced to go into Afghanistan because of what happened on 9/11 were asked to stay there and do 'nation building.' A short time later we were sold on a bill of goods concerning Iraq, went in and more troops were asked to sacrifice. The reasoning behind the whole thing fell apart and after having essentially declared “Mission Accomplished” the real war in Iraq began and thousands of Americans and even more Iraqis were lost.
The mission in Afghanistan was forgotten and troops languished with no real direction from the top. When the call to renew efforts to finish the mission were sounded again came Bin Laden had long since left the country and the mission was really believed to be in Pakistan as that's where it was believed he was hiding.
We all had heard this and it was no secret. President Obama swore, while still a candidate for president in 2008, he would finish the mission and once he did that not stay any longer. From that point he promised we would be leaving and getting our troops out of harm's way.
He was called a “wimp,” he was called “a professor standing at the lectern who didn't have the stomach to finish the job” and so much more regarding his ability to prosecute the wars and in terms of accomplishing the job in Afghanistan. Well all those folks were about as wrong as it gets.
President Barack Obama did what former President George Bush was never able to. Under President Obama's guidance the number one terrorist in the world responsible for countless lives including those lost on 9/11 was finally caught up with. Whether you agree with the way it was carried out he secured us that bit of justice.
Now those brave men and women that fought so hard in that country may come home, but the advice given to the president by some is to stay and nation build. The timeline is three years. There is no possible way that is attainable.
In the almost ten years we have been there we have helped build up Kabul and one or two other cities to a limited extent, but outside of that most embedded journalists agree the nation is very much as it was before we went in and before the Taliban. The nation has always had areas essentially ruled by strongmen and warlords kept in power through opium profits. That has not changed.
There are still serious issues with corruption even in cities where there has been changes and even President Hamid Karzai has admitted to the problems. In fact his own brother was killed by the very men employed by the Afghan government to protect him. Afghanistan has a very long way to go and America's going broke.
We can't afford to build them up as much as we would like and are only there to secure the nation for US mining interests to go in and gather up what the Pentagon has described as large levels of Lithium deposits rivaling the levels of oil in Saudi Arabia. The levels of oil in Iraq of course are nothing to sneeze at either.
Some might say we should get that oil and Lithium for America, that we deserve it, as billionaire Donald Trump has suggested. Even though I disagree with that premise, by just following that logic a little the conclusion is obvious. America would lose much more than it would gain by doing so. There would be more lives lost of US service men and women if we stay, but they gain nothing by doing so and Afghanistan will not be significantly changed by 2014.
The whole idea of “risk of a failed state” is nonsense. They would be essentially no more ready by then than they are now. It's only three years away and they have not changed that much in the decade we've been there when you look at the whole nation.
The mining interests in Afghanistan like the oil interests in Iraq aren't going to be hiring Americans. They hire from the region, and if the workers in country aren't cheap enough they hire from poor nations like Bangladesh.
So there is no profit there either. The taxes we already know about as when oil companies were hauled up before Congress they bellowed with laughter in our faces at the mention of them chipping in regarding taxes then strutted out like peacocks. There is no financial benefit there either only loss as we pay the costs of security through the US military and they do nothing but sit back in gold plated hot tubs raking in cash off our sacrifice in lives and treasure.
It does not benefit us and anyone saying it does is lying. Do we really think Afghanistan will be stable in three years in the sense of being able to handle serious threats?
The argument it benefits us either through money or safety to stay there or in Iraq any longer is a useless argument. It will benefit a few very wealthy Americans – and very influential Americans, but their being wealthy does not benefit us and cannot possibly make up for what is done to our soldiers in the name of making the rich more rich. It is unfair to ask it of us.
If not for practicality's sake, if not for the sake of a nation going broke then for the sake of the brave men and women that have served so bravely in both theaters. Let's give them a break and bring them home. Let's reduce the amount we spend on wars with no purpose. The very brave SEAL Team Six that raided Bin Laden's compound earlier this year recently suffered a loss of 22 in Afghanistan. Despite the fact we met the goal the death toll rises there and as long as we are there that will continue. President Obama cut us a break by reducing arrests of law abiding undocumented Americans. Doing otherwise was so expensive. Aside from providing those pushing for better more practical laws with a win, it gave taxpayers a break and law enforcement the ability to re-focus on real crimes.
It's time we be as practical with the war in Afghanistan and with respect to our soldiers. It's time they had a break and a chance at life. Let's bring home those men and women between this year and next year and allow Afghanistan to meet it's own destiny. We've helped give them a head start by staying and helping them to build for 10 years now.
It's time to bring the money and soldiers home. Let's cut those expenditures in lives and money and refocus on doing nation building back home. Let's build everywhere from the streets of urban cities to farming communities to middle class suburbs right here. Let's bring home the people that served so bravely and give them a break – a break they deserve. Let's allow them to focus on nation building back home. Give them a chance. They have sacrificed so much on behalf of us. We owe them. It's time.
To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.
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